SELIKEM'S FIRST SHOE

This story is in memory of the late Mr Bernard K. Deku. He was a man with little formal education and a lot of knowledge, very strong and very soft when dealing with his brethren. Like all men though, he wasn't flawless.

Selikem was  seven years before he got into primary one. Even though by national requirements he was late in school, regionally his time was very early. Unlike most of the people in the village where he lived, he had to walk daily to the next village which was about 4 kilometers in order to attend school unless he got the blessing of a passing car. He had a brown short, a "blue-bird" slipper a little bigger than him and a red T-shirt with black stripes. Seli as he was known was a happy boy who never thought he needed anything until his school decided that all pupils must wear a certain uniformed shirt and full cover shoes. 

Mr Doawu, his father who seemed to know much about the need to have formal education quickly sewed beautiful school uniforms for him. Seli however still wore his most loved striped shirt at least once a week to school. It happened he never got the kind of footwear the school required all pupils to wear anyway. 

One morning his brother came from his normal hustle rounds and promised that he would buy a shoe for Seli. In addition to the offer, Seli's brother broke the norm of just taking his brother shoe size with a broom stick(Click to read on how rural Ghanaians measure feet sizes)  but offered to take him along to the city to buy the shoe. That meant he would ride in a lorry for probably the longest time since he started school. 

Saturday came and Seli got ready and patiently waited for his brother who had to go to the farm not to work but to conduct a routine morning check on his traps if may make some catch. And yes! He did. He returned with a sack containing the carcass of a healthy grasscutter. 

In the lorry, they took the front seat and Seli rode on his brother's laps. In town Seli was bribed with a gift of frozen flavored milk supported on a stick. T'was yummy! He later learned it was locally made ice cream and that you could actually chew the stick to keep your teeth clean.

When they got to the shoe market, Selikem loved the shoes and the smell around from the pile of shoes from which people could made their choices. He got a  black boot with fluffs on the outside.  Seli got his first shoe and remained impatient to wear it to school. But more importantly he would let the village schoolmates know what city life looks like. He probably began his story telling culture from that day.

 FOOT NOTE: Selikem has grown up and now goes to the city by himself and has now traveled more than the one who bought his first shoe. As for his brother, death snatched him about 2-3 years ago.